The classical version is for Comedy and uses celluloid meant for a film projector, where it was a Stock Joke, but other long, narrow, and possibly sticky objects are also possible to use, eg cassette tape, bandages, duct tape, or just a long string.

Examples

In The Muppet Movie, the Swedish Chef has the role of operating the film projector, which goes about as well as you would expect. When the film suddenly stops playing and Kermit inquires what happened, the Chef shows up tangled in film and says, "Derversh de flim go flipflipflipflip!"

In Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie, Mike and the 'bots get an unscheduled break from the movie when the film comes unspooled and then melts. The scene cuts to Dr. Forrester, whose tie is caught in the projector reel, and his arm is somehow on fire. He uses the film to put out the fire, and just gets his hands tangled in it.

In The Three Caballeros, Donald is watching a film about birds; when it ends, he finds the film has unspooled off the projector and is now wrapped around his feet.

Star Wars: A New Hope. After the TIE fighter attack on the Millenium Falcon as it escaped from the Death Star, we see C-3PO tangled up in wires as a result of the ship being hit.

Poor old Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame not only never manages to keep his kite in the air, but often ends up incapacitated by the kite string, ranging from a few strands wrapped around him to a huge snarl of twine that hides him completely from view.

In an episode of Thunderbirds, International Rescue erases a television videotape with a remote magnetic pulse device in order to protect their secrets. When the cameraman unloads the (now smoking) tape from the truck-mounted camera, the tape starts to unravel all over the announcer standing below.

At the end of the lost episode of Spongebob Squarepants, Patchy the pirate tries to replay the VHS tape of the lost episode, only for the film to become unraveled while the tape is still in the VCR, and for Patchy to get tangled up in the film.

Done without a film reel in the Peanuts animated special She's A Good Skate, Charlie Brown. When Snoopy is trying to get the music ready for Peppermint Patty's skating session, the cassette tape breaks with the celluloid getting everywhere and all over Snoopy.

Happens in the first act of the Mr. Bogus episode "Class Clown Bogus", where Tommy's teacher is the poor victim of this trope when the tape gets unraveled while in the VCR.

Animaniacs: In the first Slappy Squirrel cartoon, Slappy "accidentally" gets a dog wrapped up in a videotape's tape. When she re-winds the tape to get it back in the cassette the dog ends up Trapped in TV Land.

At the end of the Roger Rabbit Short "Roller Coaster Rabbit", Roger crashes into the camera and is tangled up in film.

Super Friends 1973/74 episode "Dr. Pelagian's War". While Miss Caraway is checking stock market reports on a ticker tape machine, Dr. Pelagian takes control of it and makes it spew out yards of ticker tape that entangles her.

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